S11-8

The Late Prehistoric Burials at Ban Mueang Bua in Northeastern Thailand

The 2nd Regional Office of Fine Arts, Ministry of Culture, Thailand

Between 1998 and 2003, excavations were conducted at Ban Mueang Bua in Kaset Wisai District, Roi Et Province, Northeastern Thailand, by The Fine Arts Department. The cultural layers and finds had been analyzed and dated to the late prehistoric period. Nevertheless, the accuracy of dating at that time cannot be ascertained, for archaeological techniques were not well-developed and the AMS dating methods used in the preparation of the samples are not available. Therefore, a re-excavation at the site were conducted between 2015 and 2018 in order to clarify the late prehistoric mortuary practices at Ban Mueang Bua and identify the excavated artefacts. Layers within six pits were excavated using the contextual stratigraphic system. Twenty-four samples of charcoal and burned rice were selected for AMS dating. The results demonstrate that the archaeological sequence can be divided into four phases of late prehistoric activity below a modern deposit (130±20 BP). The earliest phase, dated to 3,289±20 BP, comprises three supine extended primary burials, jar burials containing complete skeletons, secondary jar burials, and a ‘pile’ of bones. Phase 2 burial practices (2473±20 BP) were similar to those recorded in Phase 1 but jar burials containing complete skeletons were not found. Secondary jar burials were found in the third and fourth phases (1709±20 BP and 1454±20 BP, respectively), with some distinctive features differentiating the two phases. In conclusion, the primary and secondary burials at the site feature different customs during the same period.  Phase 4 also produced a variety of pottery and a typical “capsule jar” comparable to those found in sites of Thung Kula in the central area of the Korat Plateau.